Paint Colors: Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams

You’ve previously seen me mention that we painted our kitchen Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you it took me 12 other shades of gray before I found the right one.

Scroll through to get all the details including pictures of Repose Gray in my home and in other beautiful spaces!

The problem with our kitchen is that it’s all white and gets extremely cool light. So while Benjamin Moore’s Stonington Gray or Gray Owl (which I’ve written about before) would have been my first choice and perfect in every single other room in the house, in the kitchen they felt stark, cold and frankly, very blue.

I knew I needed a gray with a hint of beige. Not too much that it became muddy looking or actually beige, just a teeniest little bit to warm it up. I guess technically Repose Gray is a “greige” but all the other so called greiges I tried had much stronger brown undertones, this is still firmly on the gray side of life for me.

This picture was taken right inside my front door. While the light is much warmer here than in the kitchen, Repose Gray still just has that touch of warmth to it.

Because of its undertones, I do think Repose Gray works better in rooms with good light. If you have a space that doesn’t get much light (regardless of whether its warm or cool light) then maybe this isn’t the perfect color for you.

I want to share with you some other spaces that have used this wonderful color. If you have cooler light or a north facing room and cannot find the right gray, definitely try Repose Gray.

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Beautiful Rooms Featuring Repose Gray

Have I persuaded you to choose Repose Gray for an upcoming paint job? Or have you already used it in your home? Do you have a paint color that you absolutely swear by? I’d love to hear from you! Share your pictures on Instagram and tag @wifeinprogress for a chance to have your room reposted by me!

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Comments

Can you suggest a lighter and darker gray that could be used with the Repose Gray? I’d like to paint my living room with the RP Gray, but have a staircase going to the second floor and the wall going up is open to the living room, so they’d have to work together. I’d like to paint it a slightly darker gray that the Repose Gray. I was also looking for a suggestion or 2 with regard to a lighter colour that would work well with RP Gray.
Thanks so much!

Hi! I love your blog and this post helped me a lot with choosing our paint colors. So my husband and I fell in love with repose gray after seeing your post, but we just had the painters use repose gray in our open concept living room and dining room which has a lot of natural sunlight and it looks blue! Do you notice this at all in your house? In your pictures it seems like it actually has more of a beige undertone. Im not sure if it was because the painter didnt use a primer but he told us two coats would be enough to cover the original yellow in the living room and hunter green in the dining room. Do you by chance to know what type of SW paint you used for the Repose Gray in your house (super paint, emerald, promar 200)? So bummed :( Now debating whether to repaint the areas :(

Hi Sara! That’s a bit strange since it technically has a green undertone, and definitely can appear a bit beige. I’ve used it throughout my home in all different lighting situations and there’s certainly no blue in it at all. We didn’t use primer either, just two coats of paint but we were dealing with white walls to begin with.

Also, we had it mixed in Benjamin Moore paint but I know several people who have used the SW formula with no issues. I’m sorry that it didn’t work out for you. Did you double check that your painter purchased the right color? My paint accidently purchased SW Light French Gray when I wanted Behr Light French Gray before and they are two totally different colors.

If you do decide to change colors, I can’t emphasize how important sampling in different lights is. Get some foamboard and paint it and move it around your rooms so that you can see what the color looks like in different light (morning, afternoon, evening). Also, keep in mind that your furnishings and fixed finishes (cabinets, floors) could impact the undertone of the color.

Hi. I am building a new home and want to paint the open concept one color. Either mindful or repose Gray. The trim is a slate color…dark brown/gray. Gray carpets and griege flooring. Ceilings will be sprayed same color. What paint color would you suggest. North facing home with lots of windows facing south. Thanks

It’s hard for me to tell without seeing the space, but it sounds like it might be a little too “greige” pairing either repose or mindful gray with the slate color trim and greige floors. Mindful Gray has a pretty strong green undertone which might start making everything muddy….Repose Gray is a cleaner color with less of the undertone peeking through. Have you considered a cooler toned gray like Gray Owl or Stonington Gray? Just my two cents of course – but I would grab a bunch of sample posts and see what they look like at the very least!

Hello, I currently have repose grey in my powder room but not sure what to do in my master suit the bathroom is open and attaches to bedroom that has a red accent wall and the other walls are a baige. I’m so lost on what to do in the master bath help please

Hi the pictures and design are just so pretty !! I am planning to paint my interior with SW repose gray too, I want to ask for recommendation on a matching white color for trim, ceiling and interior doors? I know you mentioned BM decorative white , do you have similar for SW? Thanks so much !!!

Hi. I am planning to use repose gray on the exterior brick and wood of my house. I am using black fox on the shutters and doors. I was planning to use eider white, which is the next lightest shade, on my trim, but I am afraid it will not be a big enough contrast. Any advice? Thank you so much!

Jenna, I so appreciate all of your input on the comments. We are going with the Repose Gray for our open house plan, and the Decorator White for the trim. We have a wide arch in the middle of our home. What color do you recommend we use? Many thanks,
Bethany

Hi Jenna! I’m going GRAYzy over here!! I stumbled upon your blog while trying to find the right paint color for our new house. We have to choose one color for the whole home, which is a modest 1000 square feet, and north facing, so gets limited light exposure. Here is the clincher- we can’t test the paint out in advance because we currently live in another city. 😯 I would love a brightening neutral gray that will pair well with navy and soft shades of turquoise. I just want to find a foolproof color that will make our new home cozy, but not dingy or cold. Can a space be warm and airy?? Would love any feedback. I’m stuck. Been going around and around from Gray Owl, to Repose Gray, then Passive, & back to Gray Owl. No, Revere Pewter, lightened. No, none of those. Help, please!

Hi Jodie! We used Repose Gray in our entire downstairs and upstairs landing and absolutely adore it. It’s the perfect warm gray. In cooler light, it adds the perfect warmth without looking muddy and in warmer light looks equally gorgeous. Paired with bright white trim, it’s really stunning. I can’t recommend it enough! Gray Owl can have some funky undertones, especially in northern light and is definitely a cooler gray. If you are going for warm and airy, Repose Gray is the way to go!

Hi Allison! I believe White Dove is on the creamier side of things…not really a bright white. I would recommend a crisper white like Simply White or Decorator’s White, personally. We’ve also used Decorator’s White on our ceilings as well as standard off-the-shelf white ceiling paint and they both look great!

Thank you for your quick reply! Up until today, I was planning on Revere Pewter for most of our walls, White Dove for trim and all cabinets just to keep it simple (and less expensive!). Now, I’m thinking Repose Gray for almost all rooms, and I’ll go with one of your trim recommendations. Would you carry over this trim color to all cabinets, too? Thank you so much for your help. My head has been spinning!

I forgot that SW have a “white dove” too…which is very similar to BM Decorator’s White. If that’s what you meant, then either one would be fab. Ben Moore’s white dove is cream…so don’t get confused between the two.

BM Decorator’s White is great too because it has a tint of a creamy undertone that stops it from feeling too cold (similar to the SW white dove) A lot will depend on your light situation. We’ve used Decorator’s White on all our built-ins and trim and adore it. I have no idea what color our kitchen cabinets are painted because we didn’t do it.

Revere Pewter is a great color but again depending on your light and look VERY beige (as it does it my house). Repose Gray has a better mix of gray/beige and really is a stunning color. We have it paired with decorator’s white so I can definitely attest to the fact that they look fab together :-)

So I too can’t decide Repose Gray and Ageeable Gray, seems that repose has a wee bit more purple, where agreeable is more beige. My new floors are smoked chestnut (with black and gold). The first color I chose was requisite gray sw, but after painting one wall all I can see is purple :(!!!! Now I got Repose and Agreeable, can’t pick, HELP. Thanks

We went with Repose Gray for a significant portion of our home and adore it. It technically has a green undertone but really just reads as a warm gray….anywhere there’s warm light it’s definitely more of a “greige” but in cool light is a perfect gray. If I were you I would buy a big piece of foam board or something like that, paint it and move it around your room to see how it looks in different light. Do this for both colors and that should help you decide. BUT I think you would love Repose Gray :-)

Hi Jenna, Thank you so much for your reply,after reading MANY post on Ropose gray (your’s was the last) I finally found my shade of Gray ROPOSE!!! love it perfect!!! Great Blog,very helpful. please keep posting, you have amazing taste. Now I’m thinking of doing accent wall, using Mindful gray :)

Oh I’m so glad you love it, Deanna! It’s one of my all-time faves! Mindful Gray is stunning too…just be aware that it has a much stronger green undertone. Saying that, I have it in my dining room and love it :-)

Hi, I’m thinking to paint my living room with repose gray but I’m looking for a different color for the dining room. Can you recommend a color that looks good with repose gray for a dining room. Also what color can I use for the trim. Thank you.

Hi Johanny – do you have any type of color at all in mind? Gray, blue, etc? There’s A LOT of colors that would look great alongside Repose Gray. I can tell you that I’ve used Mindful Gray in dining room, which is a shade darker than Repose Gray but with a slightly stronger green undertone. Another beautiful (but pretty dark) color is Serious Gray by SW. It’s a dark gray with a lot of blue to it. Finally, a color like Light French Blue by Behr is a lovely gray/blue.

Hi, Jenna. Your home is lovely! We have an east facing dining room with a vaulted ceiling and not much lighting. We’ve begun to decorate in an industrial/farmhouse style (if there is such a thing). I would like to use a deeper concrete-type gray on that tall wall, but just can’t decide whether to lean blue or warmer with the gray. I’d hate to be stuck with a too-blue color for the next 10 years until we can afford to hire a painter again :) And I don’t want it to cast a green tinge. Any thoughts?

We are also painting the rest of the house and hope to try the Repose Gray, especially with our fieldstone fireplace. There is a tiny bit of eastern light, so it’s much darker in that room. Will we still see the gray tones or will it lean green with the warmer lighting we have?

Repose Gray rarely leans green (despite technically having green undertones). I’ve used it extensively throughout my home without every seeing a hint of green. Mindful Gray, the next next color on the color card definitely has more green to it but you should be very safe with Repose Gray.

In terms of a cement-like gray on the lighter spectrum there’s Gray Owl and Stonington Gray. Stonington can lean blue if you have a lot of cool light but if your space is not well lit you should be fine. I’ve used it in all the bedrooms in my home as well as my living room and it’s perfect. If you want something a little darker (closer to a wet cement color) then Sherwin Williams Gray Matters is really nice especially when contrasted with crisp white trim or white ceilings. If you don’t have great light in that space, Gray Matters is probably as dark as I would consider going.

I hope that helps! Feel free to ask more questions if I wasn’t enough help :-)

Thanks, Jenna! Looks great. The nursery has white chair rail, so I think we’re going to use Naval on the bottom and Repose on the top. I really love those colors paired with the crisp white (like your son’s crib!) Thanks again for sharing!

Yes, that looks great! Thanks, Jenna! We have white chair rail in the nursery and I think we’re going to go with Naval on the bottom and Repose on the top. I love them both too with that crisp white (like your son’s crib!) Thanks so much for sending!

Love your repose gray and I’m going to try your decorator white on trim in bathroom. We are in renovation process and using some carrera marble in shower. Our vanity top is a cultured marble if we use repose gray as walls we would like to make vanity darker gray as a contrast… suggestions?

Hi Julie, I’ve used both SW Serious Gray (which is a dark gray but is also kinda of blue) and BM Kendall charcoal as darker contrasts and they both look amazing. Kendall Charcoal is really dark though….BM Chelsea Gray is slightly lighter and would be a great color for a vanity. I hope that helps!

Hi Jenna. I love repose gray and am wanting to paint our living room, dining room, and kitchen in it. We are getting new flooring in the kitchen (a beautiful greige looking wood), but unfortunately we cannot afford to replace the carpet in the living room and dining room quite yet. The carpeting is a tan/beige shag and I am worried it will class with the repose gray. What would you suggest?

It shouldn’t clash, as Repose Gray is a greige (gray with a beige undertone) so if anything it might just look a little too beige. However, with plenty of bright white trim you should be fine. Try to keep some contrast with other items in your space – beige throw pillows, beige curtains etc. and try to bring in some color where possible. I hope that helps!

Am going to do Repose Gray in our living, dining, office, foyer and stairwell (all now are a creme/taupe). Our kitchen (which is off the dining room and visible from the family room) is red. I like the darker color in the kitchen but am not sure if red will go with Repose Gray. I want something with some contrast as it will essentially be the only room on the first level that is a different color. We live on the water and have lots of windows. What would you put with it? I’m not opposed to another red or maybe even a blue.

Red is a notoriously difficult color to pair with anything. Going from gray to red will always be quite jarring and not flow well and may pull undesirable undertones from the gray paint (ie make it look purplish). I suggest using a blue, mushroom or even a darker gray if you’re set on a more saturated color. We have paired Repose Gray with several gray/blues including Sherwin Williams Serious Gray, Sherwin Williams Naval(navy blue) and even Behr Light French Gray – and they all look beautiful and flow well.

I hope that helps. If you need any other specific paint colors I’d be glad to help!

Thank you so much! Now entering the debate of repose gray or agreeable gray. Fireplace has stones that are strong in beige and cream tones. Am leaning now toward agreeable gray as it seems warmer and less stark contrast. Also, wood floors have a honey color. Your thoughts?

Thank you for sharing this information. Very helpful! I do have a question. I’m struggling with trying to figure out what color trim to use with Repose Gray. Can’t decide if I should go bright white or something suttle ( Spare White SW)
Hope to hear back from you!
Leslie

In our home we used BM Decorator’s White alongside the Repose Gray. It is a beautiful clean white that’s slightly on the warmer side. It’s the perfect white without ever looking cold. Another really popular white is Simply White but I’m definitely partial to Decorator’s White and I don’t think you can go wrong with it! By the way, you can get any of the BM colors mixed at the SW store (or Lowes/Home Depot) if you just tell them the name. Good luck!

Both have beige undertones so it will be hard to avoid that if you choose either. Saying that, they are both beautiful colors! The Repose Gray has less beige than the other but definitely still has a visible undertone, especially in warm light. If you have warm light, Stonington Gray is also a great choice that’s a solid gray (but in cool light has strong blue undertones). Gray Owl works really well in the majority of spaces and has way less discernible undertones than other colors.

It’s SO hard for me to tell you which color to go for. You really need to try samples. For instance, Stonington Gray is the perfect gray in my living room but literally looks baby blue in my kitchen because of the cool light. A lot of the undertone issues are light dependant. Saying that, I have repose gray everywhere in my house and it always has a beige undertone.

I hope that helps – I’m sorry that I can’t tell you which one to pick!!

I’ve never seen Seattle Gray in person but from what I can tell it’s pretty similar to Repose Gray – both are more on the “greige” spectrum than true grays – meaning they have warm beige undertones. I think both would look equally beautiful on an exterior but I suggest buying a sample pot of each to see which you prefer before committing.

I’m doing a play room and did it repose gray. I would like to add mountains but stuck on a color. I’ve thought about functional gray or Dorian gray. I like mindful gray but I’m thinking that might be to close together. But maybe it won’t. What’s your opinion?

Mindful Gray is only slightly darker than Repose Gray so it depends how much of a contract you want. If want more of a “shadow” effect then Mindful would work but if you want substantially more contrast then I would go with Functional Gray as I believe it’s the darkest of the 3. Your best bet might be to grab some sample pots, paint some foam board (or something else small) and see which color works best. Colors can vary so much depending on your lighting situation!

We are about to paint our livingroom and kitchen Repose gray. Just wondering if Dorian gray would be a good accent color to paint around our fireplace and under our bar area?? Both look great on the swatch together but up on our wall one looks baby blue and there other a dark gray. So torn what to do because our livingroom has tons of natural light with huge windows. Help please!!

Swatches can be tricky. You’re better off purchasing sample pots and seeing what the paint looks like in your light. We used SW Serious Gray as our accent color in our living room but it definitely has blue undertones. I haven’t seen Dorian Gray in person but what I’ve seen it should look nice with the Repose Gray. Mindful Gray which is a shade darker than Repose Gray is a great accent color, too!

I’m going to paint my house mostly all Repose Gray. But I’d like to paint the entry a light aqua blue sort of color. Maybe Jamestown from SW? Any recommendations would be appreciated it’s a pretty open floor plan. Also would like a different color for Master bedroom and bath but don’t know where to start!!

Hi! I’m buying a home that has dorian grey cabinets. i’m not thrilled with this but oh well! :) currently the walls are this really odd yellow creamy color that really doesn’t go with the cabinets. I’d like to paint it a white that is complimentary to the dorian grey. there’s not a TON of natural light, but some and don’t want the white to look dingy. any suggestions? I know that dorian is just a little darker than the repose (which i love). Thanks!

Hi Emily! Our entire hallway has wainscoting, so it’s half white and half Repose Gray. The white we’ve used is BM’s Decorator’s White which is a lovely crisp bright white that never looks dingy. I hope that helps! :-)

Hi! I am thinking of painting my foyer Agreeable Gray. It opens to our living room/dining room and we are thinking of painting that space Repose Gray or Tinsmith. We are struggling to figure out which to go with. It’s a big space and we aren’t very adventurous with color.

Hello, I am planning on using repose grey in my living room/dining/kitchen but I can’t seem to find a color for my foyer/entry way! I want it to be light and airy when you walk in but since repose grey is already light I keep picking dark colors so that there is some kind of contrast! And I like cooler greys but am nervous it will clash with the beige tones in the repose grey. Do you have any ideas?

We have Stonington Gray (Ben Mooore) in adjoining rooms to where we have Repose Gray and they look great together! Stonington Gray is more of a true gray than Repose Gray (which is a greige) and has some blue undertones. Another great gray is Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore. I suggest you grab a couple of samples and see what they look like in your home before you commit to any color. Good luck!

Hello! I see your trim is Benjamin Moore. What line did you use for the trim? And what gloss? Semi? Pearl? Too many choices! I used their recommended trim paint which is water based and it goes on streaky.

I’m thinking of painting our living room and hall this grey but all the pictures I see with the gray is white woodwork- we have oak with no plans to change that. Dobyoubthinkcthe gray will look ok with oak?

I think because of the undertones when it’s paired with oak it will look closer to a beige than a gray. If you’re looking for a “truer” gray then Gray Owl might work well. I always recommend buying sample pots first because you never really know what it will look like until you see it in your own light!

Hi, Jenna. Just discovered your blog today. Love it! I too LOVE repose gray and have used it in several spaces in my house. I saw where you said you used it with SW naval as well. I am contemplating combining the two for my new baby’s nursery. Would you consider sharing a photo of your space with the two colors? Thank you!!

Hi Mandi! Thanks so much for your kind words! Yes, Repose Gray is awesome, right? We used Naval for the accent wall in my son’s room, the other color being BM Stonington Gray but Repose Gray would totally work, too. This is the only pictureI have right now but hopefully it will give you an idea.

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